I love kabocha squash. So I was excited to try this savoury squash tart recipe. Sadly, I wasn't able to find any kabocha at the grocery store, so I had to settle for buttercup instead. Even with that substitution, it was very good. But I'd still love to try it with an actual kabocha sometime.

I think the only other change I'd make is to double the onion. The long-cooked caramelized onion layer on the bottom of the tart was delicious. There just wasn't enough of it! Otherwise though, I really have no complaints. This was great.

Kabocha Squash and Pecorino Tart

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 (~1kg) kabocha squash
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 recipe sourdough pastry
• 2 red onions, chopped
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme
• 2 large eggs
• 1 c. half-and-half (10% MF)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/2 c. grated pecorino romano
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F).
2. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds and guts.
3. Brush squash, inside and out, with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil and place cut-side-down on a baking sheet.
4. Roast at 220°C (425°F) until very tender (~40 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, make your pastry, wrap it, and put it in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.
6. While the pastry is chilling and the squash is roasting, heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat.
7. Add the onions and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
8. Reduce heat to medium-low, sprinkle in thyme, and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for ~30 minutes.
9. When squash is done, scoop out the flesh and discard the skins.
10. Mash the squash and blend with the eggs, half-and-half, salt, and pepper.
11. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and use it to line a 23cm (9") deep dish pie plate.
12. Crimp the edges and spoon the onion mixture into the bottom of the pie shell. Spread into an even layer.
13. Srpinkle the cheeses on top.
14. Pour the squash mixture over the cheese and smooth the top.
15. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 10 minutes.
16. Reduce heat and bake for another 20 minutes.
17. Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.
18. Cut into slices and serve.

Braised Turnips with Mushrooms and Peas

I dropped the ball last week and forgot to tweak our produce basket. Which means that we ended up with a surprise assortment of fruits and vegetables. One of which was a bag of turnips. TF and I don't really eat a lot of turnips. I've never particularly cared for them. That said, I wasn't about to let them go to waste once we had them. So that meant scrambling to redo this week's meal plan to work in all the random extra veggies we got.

It turns out that the Vegetable of the Day cookbook doesn't have much use for turnips either. They just don't appear in that many recipes. So when I came across this braised turnip dish, I jumped on it.

Sadly, I wasn't that impressed with how this came out. It was edible, but that's about the best I can say for it. The braising didn't really do great things for the turnip. And the mushrooms and peas weren't really harmonious with it either. It just seemed like a bunch of disparate elements that were all fighting with each other. Not a great success.

Maybe one day I will find a really great turnip recipe, but this definitely wasn't it.

Braised Turnips with Mushroms and Peas

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 225g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 450g turnips, peeled and cut into wedges ~1cm thick
• 2/3 c. chicken or vegetable stock, divided
• 1 c. frozen peas
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Heat a pan over medium heat.
2. Add the mushrooms, cover, and cook until they release some liquid.
3. Add the garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
4. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
5. Melt butter over medium heat.
6. Add the turnips and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
7. Add 1/3 c. of the stock and cook until mostly evaporated (3-4 minutes).
8. Flip the turnip pieces, add the remaining 1/3 c. of stock, and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
9. Add the peas, return mushrooms to pan, and cook for a minute or two longer.
10. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

We got some surprise Brussels sprouts in our produce basket this week. And while I have a bunch of sprout recipes still waiting to be tried, this one looked particularly well-suited to breakfast. And since that's the meal that I tend to have the most trouble planning for, I figured this would be the best way to use them up.

The original recipe just called for onion, Brussels sprouts, and potato. I only had about half the quantity of sprouts called for though, so I upped the amount of potato somewhat and added a carrot to balance things out. I think next time I'd add a bell pepper as well. But it was still very good as-is.

Brussels Sprouts and Potato Hash

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 450g potatoes, diced
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 250g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and sliced
• 1-2 carrots, grated
• 3/4 tsp. dried thyme (or 2 tsp. fresh)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 4-6 large eggs

Directions

1. Melt the butter with the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
3. Add the potato and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown (~15 minutes).
4. Add Brussels sprouts, carrots, and thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables caramelize (~15 minutes longer).
6. Add stock and cook until liquid is absorbed and vegetables are tender (~5 minutes).
7. Meanwhile, fry eggs in a little butter until desired doneness is reached and season to taste with salt and pepper.
8. Serve hash topped with eggs.

I needed to take a quick break from the poached fruit frenzy to use up some expired buttermilk. It was already just over a month past its best before, but... it's buttermilk. I figure as long as it still looks, smells, and tastes okay, it's probably fine. Especially if I'm going to be baking with it.

This also gave me the chance to use up the leftover pastry in the fridge as well. I'd used up half of it for a quiche about a week ago. But the remainder has been sitting in the fridge waiting for a purpose ever since. I had been planning on making this pie last weekend. But that's when the quince and pears arrived. So that became a priority override and the pie got pushed aside until we'd dealt with the fruit and cleared out a few other ingredients.

I finally had the time and the ingredients tonight though. And I couldn't do the next batch of poached fruit yet anyway. I haven't had a chance to get to the store to get either pears or apricots yet. So I figured I might as well get this done while I had the chance. (And before the buttermilk and pastry actually do go off.)

I was a bit skeptical of the idea of a buttermilk pie. I like buttermilk biscuits and pancakes, but I'm not necessarily a huge fan of straigh-up buttermilk. And I was worried that this would manage to be both too bland and too buttermilk-y at the same time. But I'm pleased to say that I was wrong! The buttermilk definitely comes through, but it's not overwhelming. And the vanilla, lemon, and brown sugar balance it out. You end up with a delicious, slightly tangy, baked custard in a flaky pie shell. So, all-in-all, no complaints from me! Especially not with the wonderful, slightly caramelized top. It really is quite lovely.

Buttermilk Pie

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/2 recipe sourdough pastry (or similar)
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/16 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest

Directions

1. Roll out pastry and use it to line a 23cm (9") pie plate. Chill for ~30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) and place an empty baking sheet in the oven.
3. Line pastry shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
4. Remove paper and pie weights and cook for aonther 5.
5. Meanwhile, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar until light.
6. Mix in the eggs, flour, salt, buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon zest.
7. Once pie shell is baked, reduce heat to 180°C (350°F) and pour filling into shell.
8. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45 minutes.
9. Allow to cool before slicing.
10. Slice and serve topped with a fruit compote, icing sugar, or maple syrup.

Keeping the poached fruit train rolling! And this plum recipe was next up. TF and I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the pears or the quince, but it was still good. And I'm enjoying getting to try all of these different poached fruit desserts.

This one calls for one bottle (750mL) of red wine that has been seasoned with cloves, star anise, and ginger and sweetened with 1 c. of sugar. But, since I was still using leftover syrup from the previous poached fruit recipes, I just chose to add the relevant spices and 1 c. of red wine to the syrup I already had.

For the actual recipe below, I've written it up as given in the book. But I'll try to briefly run through what I actually did here. Just so that I have a record of it.

• Made a syrup of 2 c. water, 2 1/2 c. sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest; poached qince in it
• To the residual syrup, added 1 1/2 c. white wine, peppercorns, cinnamon, star anise; poached more quince in it
• To that residual syrup, added 1/2 c. white wine and fresh ginger; poached pears in it
• Finally, to the resulting syrup, added 1 c. red wine, cloves, and additional star anise; poached plums in it

Poached Plums with Vanilla Mascarpone

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 750mL fruity red wine
• 17 Tbsp. sugar, divided
• 2-3 slices fresh ginger
• 3 whole cloves
• 3 whole star anise
• 2 (7cm long) cinnamon sticks
• 900g red or black plums, peeled and quartered
• 1 c. mascarpone
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine the wine, 1 c. of the sugar, ginger, cloves, star anise, and cinnamon sticks and bring to a boil.
2. Add plums, reduce heat slightly, and simmer until softened (8-10 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, combine the mascarpone, vanilla, and remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar.
4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer plums to bowls.
5. Serve topped with mascarpone.

Kugelhopf is a yeasted cake full of dried fruit. It's traditionally baked in a special toroidal pan, similar to a Bundt pan, but narrower and deeper. I don't have a kugelhopf pan, so I just used a Bundt pan instead.

Sourdough Kugelhopf

Slightly adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. dried cherries
• 1/2 c. raisins
• 1 c. rum¹
• 1 Tbsp. orange blossom water
• 500g hard (strong/high grade/bread) flour
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 200g ripe (fed) sourdough starter
• 130g milk
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 13 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1-2 dozen whole almonds
• icing sugar, to garnish

Directions

1. Combine cherries, raisins, and rum and let stand overnight.
2. Drain fruit and mix in orange blossom water. (Discard rum or set aside for another use.)
3. Combine flour and salt and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, combine starter, milk, eggs, and sugar and mix well.
5. Gradually mix wet ingredients into dry and knead with dough hook for a minute or two.
6. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
7. Knead with dough hook for another 3-5 minutes.
8. Work in butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time, over the course of another 5 minutes or so.
9. Work in fruit and knead until evenly mixed and elastic.
10. Round dough and place in a covered bowl to rise for 2-4 hours, stretching and folding every 30-60 minutes.
11. Knock back the dough, round, cover, and rest for 20-30 minutes.
12. Grease a 10-12 cup kugelhopf or Bundt pan.
13. Place an almond in each "peak" in the bottom of the pan.
14. Round the dough again and make a hole through the centre.
15. Place the dough in the prepared pan, cover, and set aside to rise for another 3-6 hours (or overnight in the fridge).
16. Once ready to bake, preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
17. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25 minutes.
18. Reduce heat to 190°C (375°F) and bake for another 15 minutes.
19. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.
20. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for kirsch, but I didn't have any (and TF and I don't like it anyway), so I used some spiced rum instead. ^Back

I appreciate how quickly this recipe comes together. And the fact that it gets you a protein and a vegetable is nice as well. I just sautéed up a bunch of zucchini to go with it and our dinner was complete!

Molasses-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potatoes

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. molasses
• 1/4 c. Roman mustard
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes, divided
• 680g sweet potatoes, cut into 1cm thick discs (unpeeled)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground and divided
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 2 pork tenderloins (~350g each)
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock

Directions

1. Preheat oven 200°C (400°F).
2. Combine molasses, mustard, rosemary, and 1/2 tsp. pepper flakes and mix well. Set aside.
3. Toss sweet potatoes with 2 Tbsp. oil, 1/2 tsp. sea salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper and spread out on a baking sheet.
4. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over medium heat.
6. Season pork with remaining salt and pepper and sear on all sides (6-8 minutes).
7. Clear a space on the centre of the baking sheet and place pork in the cleared space.
8. Brush pork and sweet potatoes with molasses sauce.
9. Roast for 15 more minutes.
10. Return pan to heat and add shallot.
11. Cook until shallot softens (~3 minutes).
12. Add remaining sauce and chicken stock to pan and bring to a boil.
13. Cook until sauce thickens (~5 minutes).
14. Slice pork, top with sauce, and serve with sweet potatoes.